ONTARIO
SECONDARY SCHOOL
LITERACY TEST
MARCH 29, 2012
Individual Student Repor t
Congratulations, EXAMPLE STUDENT!
Ontario education number:
000-000-000
School:
Example School (000000)
School board:
Example Board
Your RESULTS
Understanding your OSSLT results
Congratulations! You were successful on the literacy
test. On a scale of 200 to 400, the minimum score that
meets the standard is 300.
Your score
320
Questions attempted
47 of 47
Provincial Median Score
325
Reading
The provincial median is the score that half
of the fully participating first-time eligible
students in the province were above.
School Median Score
The Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT) tests key skills
in reading and writing. Success on the test confirms that a student
has met the minimum standard for literacy according to The
Ontario Curriculum across all subjects up to the end of Grade 9.
Your results show that, in reading, you
• are able to understand information that is clearly stated.
• are able to connect ideas from different parts of a text and make
conclusions.
320
The school median is the score that half
of the fully participating first-time eligible
students in the school were above.
• are able to connect ideas from a text to your own ideas to interpret
and make judgments about what the text is saying.
Writing
Your EQAO literacy scores for the
2008 junior assessment
Reading
Level 3 (provincial standard)
Writing
Level 3 (provincial standard)
Your results show that, in writing, you
• are able to develop a main idea with enough supporting details to
be easily understood by the reader.
• are able to organize and order ideas in a clear, understandable way.
• are able to use correct spelling, punctuation and grammar to make
your writing clear.
Your EQAO literacy scores for the
2005 primary assessment
Reading
Level 3 (provincial standard)
Writing
Level 2 (approaches the provincial
standard)
www.eqao.com
Page 1 of 2
12-01
000 00000 00 000000 00 0000
Printed June 2012
001_00001
Next STEPS
Your next steps might include talking to a teacher or your principal to help you
understand how these results connect to your daily course work, classroom projects and tests.
get more detailed information about how you did on this year’s literacy test.
These results are a snapshot of your literacy skills on the day of this test. They are one indication of how well you are learning and using
your reading and writing skills. You can find more information about specific strategies to help improve your literacy skills and about
the OSSLT on the EQAO Web site, www.eqao.com. Samples of students’ work available on this site show what successful responses
look like.
✤ INFORMATION ABOUT THE LITERACY TEST
Although each year’s test is made up of a new set of reading and writing questions, the skills assessed and the test standard remain
the same each year.
You need to pass the literacy test or the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Course (OSSLC) in order to get an Ontario Secondary
School Diploma (OSSD). Your school’s office will record successful completion of the test or course on your Ontario Student
Transcript.
The test is given on one day in two 75-minute blocks. Students across the province write the test on the same day and at the same
time.
The reading and writing tasks are similar to those you do in your courses. The test is made up of three types of reading selections
—informational (e.g., a newspaper article), graphic (e.g., a schedule) and narrative (e.g., a story with dialogue)—and questions
based on them. The long- and short-writing tasks ask you to generate and organize ideas and demonstrate your use of language
conventions. The multiple-choice writing questions ask you to identify and correct errors in spelling, punctuation and grammar,
and change paragraphs to improve topic development and organization.
Your reading answers are scored according to how well you have used your reading skills to answer the questions. Your long- and
short-writing responses are scored as first-draft (unpolished) writing.
The reading skills that need to be demonstrated in response to the different types of reading materials are
• understanding explicitly (directly) stated ideas and information;
• understanding implicitly (indirectly) stated ideas and information and
• making connections between ideas and information in a reading selection and personal knowledge and experience.
The writing skills that need to be demonstrated in response to the different writing tasks are
• developing a main idea with sufficient supporting detail;
• organizing information and ideas in a clear, understandable manner and
• using conventions (spelling, punctuation, grammar) appropriately and in a manner that does not distract the reader.
EQAO conducts province-wide assessments at the primary, junior and secondary levels to measure student achievement
against curriculum expectations.The data are widely used as an additional tool to guide improvements in education at the
individual, school and provincial levels. For additional information and useful resources, visit www.eqao.com.
This report contains personal information that is protected under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.
Page 2 of 2
ONTARIO
SECONDARY SCHOOL
LITERACY TEST
MARCH 29, 2012
Individual Student Repor t
EXAMPLE STUDENT
Ontario education number:
000-000-000
School:
Example School (000000)
School board:
Example Board
Your RESULTS
Understanding your OSSLT results
You were unsuccessful on the literacy test. On a scale of
200 to 400, the minimum score that meets the standard
is 300.
The Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT) tests key skills
in reading and writing. Success on the test confirms that a student
has met the minimum standard for literacy according to The
Ontario Curriculum across all subjects up to the end of Grade 9.
Your score
285
Questions attempted
47 of 47
Your results show that, in reading, you
Provincial Median Score
325
• need to improve your ability to understand information that is
clearly stated.
Reading
The provincial median is the score that half
of the fully participating first-time eligible
students in the province were above.
School Median Score
• need to improve your ability to connect ideas from different parts of
a text and make conclusions.
320
The school median is the score that half
of the fully participating first-time eligible
students in the school were above.
• need to improve your ability to connect ideas from a text to your
own ideas to interpret and make judgments about what the text is
saying.
Writing
Your EQAO literacy scores for the
2008 junior assessment
Reading
Level 2 (approaches the provincial
standard)
Writing
Level 2 (approaches the provincial
standard)
Your results show that, in writing, you
• are able to develop a main idea with enough supporting details to
be easily understood by the reader.
• are able to organize and order ideas in a clear, understandable way.
• need to improve your ability to use correct spelling, punctuation
and grammar to make your writing clear.
Your EQAO literacy scores for the
2005 primary assessment
Reading
Level 2 (approaches the provincial
standard)
Writing
Level 3 (provincial standard)
www.eqao.com
Page 1 of 2
12-01
000 00000 00 000000 00 0000
Printed June 2012
001_00002
Next STEPS
You need to pass the literacy test or the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Course (OSSLC) in order to get an Ontario Secondary
School Diploma (OSSD). Your next steps might include talking to a teacher or your principal to help you
decide which alternative for satisfying the literacy requirement (e.g., taking the OSSLC, rewriting the OSSLT next year) is best for
you.
understand how these results connect to your daily course work, classroom projects and tests.
get more detailed information about how you did on this year’s literacy test.
learn how to improve your literacy skills in all of your courses.
These results are a snapshot of your literacy skills on the day of this test. They are one indication of how well you are learning and using
your reading and writing skills. You can find more information about specific strategies to help improve your literacy skills and about
the OSSLT on the EQAO Web site, www.eqao.com. Samples of students’ work available on this site show what successful responses
look like.
✤ INFORMATION ABOUT THE LITERACY TEST
Although each year’s test is made up of a new set of reading and writing questions, the skills assessed and the test standard remain
the same each year.
You need to pass the literacy test or the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Course (OSSLC) in order to get an Ontario Secondary
School Diploma (OSSD). Your school’s office will record successful completion of the test or course on your Ontario Student
Transcript.
The test is given on one day in two 75-minute blocks. Students across the province write the test on the same day and at the same
time.
The reading and writing tasks are similar to those you do in your courses. The test is made up of three types of reading selections
—informational (e.g., a newspaper article), graphic (e.g., a schedule) and narrative (e.g., a story with dialogue)—and questions
based on them. The long- and short-writing tasks ask you to generate and organize ideas and demonstrate your use of language
conventions. The multiple-choice writing questions ask you to identify and correct errors in spelling, punctuation and grammar,
and change paragraphs to improve topic development and organization.
Your reading answers are scored according to how well you have used your reading skills to answer the questions. Your long- and
short-writing responses are scored as first-draft (unpolished) writing.
The reading skills that need to be demonstrated in response to the different types of reading materials are
• understanding explicitly (directly) stated ideas and information;
• understanding implicitly (indirectly) stated ideas and information and
• making connections between ideas and information in a reading selection and personal knowledge and experience.
The writing skills that need to be demonstrated in response to the different writing tasks are
• developing a main idea with sufficient supporting detail;
• organizing information and ideas in a clear, understandable manner and
• using conventions (spelling, punctuation, grammar) appropriately and in a manner that does not distract the reader.
EQAO conducts province-wide assessments at the primary, junior and secondary levels to measure student achievement
against curriculum expectations.The data are widely used as an additional tool to guide improvements in education at the
individual, school and provincial levels. For additional information and useful resources, visit www.eqao.com.
This report contains personal information that is protected under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.
Page 2 of 2